The fire was reported around 11:15 a.m. near Mission Inn Avenue and the Santa Ana river bottom, just north of downtown, according to Riverside fire officials. The fire charred about 45 acres.

Mandatory evacuations were issued for several streets and an evacuation center was set up.

"It was so scary. You know they tell you to evacuate...and then you think what are you going to take?" resident Nancy Chaffee said.

By 7:30 p.m., all evacuation orders were lifted.

Officials said no structures were destroyed in the blaze but some were damaged.

Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the flames as winds in the area blew up to 40 mph. Cal Fire officials said they had extra resources already ready to tackle a blaze due to fire danger conditions.

Firefighters seemed to be getting ahead of the flames as they continued putting out hot spots.